Mar 24 - Government Says Opposition Comments On Power Station Are “Laden With Inconsistencies”
The Government says it regrets the Opposition’s most recent in a series of “absurd allegations” relating to the new power station project saying that the fact that the GSD’s latest press release is “laden with inconsistencies” reveals the “complete lack of care” with which the Opposition approach their work.
The Government says that, this time, the Opposition have “attempted to twist” the timeline of the project to make it seem that the site for the new power station was identified, and the tender for it was issued, before the Government’s consultation with the Health and Safety Laboratory. By the Opposition’s own admission, says Number Six, this is “simply untrue”.
The Government says that, as the Opposition rightly point out, the Government approached HSL on 7th June 2013 in order to further the project and continue from the preliminary investigations already undertaken. As the Opposition also notes, the closing date for tender submissions was the 1st August 2013 and, in January 2014, two representatives from HSL came to Gibraltar to assess the two proposed sites for the storage of LNG. The Government suggests that the Opposition “make an investment in a calendar.”
At this time, the Government says it would like to reassure any concerned members of the public that had any issues been identified between the 7th June and 1st August 2013, the tender would have been modified accordingly through a process commonly known as planning and design review, which the Government says is an “essential aspect of good project design”. Number Six says that an example of how this is being conducted on this particular project was when, after the award of the tender, a modification was made to incorporate a design feature that made use of the lessons learned in the aftermath of the Waterport fire in Spring 2014.
A Government statement concluded:
“The decision to locate the new power station on the North Mole necessitated the consideration of many other factors other than risk assessment; the Government was looking for a site within the Port Area that would enable the safe delivery of Liquefied Natural Gas to Gibraltar by sea, which would be in smaller carriers than by road tanker (another option that has since been discarded). This approach follows basic project design principles, whereby conceptual plans are announced and then followed by full design and assessments.
“The Government is now working with all the relevant, named, experts on the specific details of the design, including all aspects of the design feature that will be incorporated through the relevant assessments in accordance with existing health and safety regulations. The Government’s policy of making information public as soon as it becomes available should not be misconstrued as anything other than transparency and a form of public consultation. The public, as well as the Opposition, must understand that project design and re-design is an essential feature of due diligence. This is what the words health and safety really mean.”
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